When I heard about a show starring Kevin Bacon about a serial killer I was immediately excited and came on IMDb to check it out. I was so surprised to see so many people giving it terrible reviews saying it's the worst show ever. I decided to watch it anyway and I'm so glad I did.
Kevin Bacon is brilliant as our flawed hero who is brought back into action when a serial killer (James Purefoy), whom he put away, escapes from prison and we find that he has a cult of followers on his side. This is probably one of the best pilot episodes I have seen in years. It jumps straight into the action with some gruesome deaths and some very fitting music. Unfortunately the rest of the season never quite nailed the same magic as the pilot but that's not to say the show was by any means bad. In fact, the acting was some of the best I've seen in a TV show and I quickly became engaged with the characters, especially Kevin Bacon's character who frequently steps into the morally grey area of investigating (breaking peoples' fingers etc).
The most frequent complaint I've seen for this show is that the FBI often seem to make some rather stupid errors and fail to spot clues which the audience can see. This was true in some instances where I wanted to shout at the screen but really that is some of the fun in watching a thriller as the story kept me guessing as to how it was going to turn out. The biggest flaw in my opinion came in the middle of the season when the writers decided to expand the 'cult' to include what looked like over a hundred people. It started to become silly at that point and did briefly take me out of the experience. Luckily, the subject is rarely brought up again and the show saves itself with a great build-up to a nail-biting season finale. Be warned, this is a show that isn't afraid of killing off a few characters...
One thing the show really does get right is the violence. We often see crime scenes from the FBI perspective and many are very bloody and some are quite graphic. Some of the violence we see on-screen is also quite brutal but it is done in good taste without lingering on the violence. This is a good thing as too much blood and gore would have removed the psychological thriller element to the show whereas not enough would have made it look unrealistic.
As I said earlier, there is a lot of hate for this show at the moment. Perhaps we have all gotten so used to fantastic serial killer shows like Hannibal that we won't settle for anything less. I'm not going to jump on the bandwagon and say its the worst show ever, instead I recommend it to anyone who likes a good fast-paced thriller with layered characters, plenty of suspense and some really good acting. I will be watching season 2 in the hope that the show seizes its potential for a dark, chilling story which could turn this good thriller into a great one.
Kevin Bacon is brilliant as our flawed hero who is brought back into action when a serial killer (James Purefoy), whom he put away, escapes from prison and we find that he has a cult of followers on his side. This is probably one of the best pilot episodes I have seen in years. It jumps straight into the action with some gruesome deaths and some very fitting music. Unfortunately the rest of the season never quite nailed the same magic as the pilot but that's not to say the show was by any means bad. In fact, the acting was some of the best I've seen in a TV show and I quickly became engaged with the characters, especially Kevin Bacon's character who frequently steps into the morally grey area of investigating (breaking peoples' fingers etc).
The most frequent complaint I've seen for this show is that the FBI often seem to make some rather stupid errors and fail to spot clues which the audience can see. This was true in some instances where I wanted to shout at the screen but really that is some of the fun in watching a thriller as the story kept me guessing as to how it was going to turn out. The biggest flaw in my opinion came in the middle of the season when the writers decided to expand the 'cult' to include what looked like over a hundred people. It started to become silly at that point and did briefly take me out of the experience. Luckily, the subject is rarely brought up again and the show saves itself with a great build-up to a nail-biting season finale. Be warned, this is a show that isn't afraid of killing off a few characters...
One thing the show really does get right is the violence. We often see crime scenes from the FBI perspective and many are very bloody and some are quite graphic. Some of the violence we see on-screen is also quite brutal but it is done in good taste without lingering on the violence. This is a good thing as too much blood and gore would have removed the psychological thriller element to the show whereas not enough would have made it look unrealistic.
As I said earlier, there is a lot of hate for this show at the moment. Perhaps we have all gotten so used to fantastic serial killer shows like Hannibal that we won't settle for anything less. I'm not going to jump on the bandwagon and say its the worst show ever, instead I recommend it to anyone who likes a good fast-paced thriller with layered characters, plenty of suspense and some really good acting. I will be watching season 2 in the hope that the show seizes its potential for a dark, chilling story which could turn this good thriller into a great one.